Lot
2
Heuer Carrera ‘A&F’ Chronomatic
beautiful and extremely rare stainless steel chronograph wristwatch with date window and bracelet, retailed by Abercrombie & Fitch Co.
POWERED BY THE AUTOMATIC CAL. 11 MECHANISM – ANGLED VIEW OF THE DIAL DISPLAYING COUNTERS, DATE AND A&F SIGNATURE – SIDE SHOT OF THE CASE SHOWING THE CROWN.
MANUFACTURER
24 HEUER PARADE
Heuer
YEAR
Circa 1969
REFERENCE
1153N
CASE
147’586
MODEL NAME
Carrera ‘Abercrombie & Fitch’ Chronomatic
MATERIAL
Stainless steel
CALIBRE
Automatic, cal. 11, 17 jewels
BRACELET/STRAP
Stainless steel Gay Frères bracelet with HLC endlinks, max. length 205mm
CLASP/BUCKLE
Stainless steel Heuer deployant clasp stamped 2.69
DIMENSIONS
38.5mm diameter
SIGNED
Case, dial, movement and clasp signed
ESTIMATE CHF 15,000-25,000 $15,000-25,000 €13,600-22,700 LITERATURE The present watch is illustrated in ‘Heuer Carrera Chronographs 1963–85’ by Richard Crosthwaite & Paul Gavin, pages 156-159.
Heuer, with its partners Breitling, Büren, Hamilton and Dubois-Depraz developed the calibre 11 in its race to produce the world’s first automatic chronograph movement. Heuer presented this movement in three models: the Autavia, Carrera and Monaco. Moreover, these watches shared an important characteristic – the word “Chronomatic” printed on the dial above the Heuer badge. This indication was rapidly abandoned resulting in a very low number of “Chronomatic” dials being produced making them extremely rare and sought after by collectors. There are 5 known examples of the Carrera Chronomatic, including one in the TAG Heuer Museum. The rarity of this lot is further enhanced by the fact that it is the only known model displaying not only the Heuer and Chronomatic script, but also the Abercrombie & Fitch signature. The first series automatic Carrera models featured steel with black stripe hour and minute hands, inner tachymeter scale from 50 – 200 with the TACHY script at located 3 o’clock. The earliest examples also featured a transitional rice grain Gay Frères bracelet with a non-flip lock clasp which was made for only half a year and by the fourth quarter of 1969 the bracelet was delivered with the new flip lock clasp. The present example features a metallic blue dial that has gently aged to a particularly beguiling and shimmering lilac with a bright contrasting red seconds hand making it a pure delight to behold.